Craig Camp

Celis was originally Belgian. I never thought the stuff they made in Austin was up to the original.

Just think - when you visit friends in Sicilia you have to do that EVERY day you are there. Varmint you better start eating and drinking again right away to get in shape! Congratulations - sounds like a huge success.

Does anybody else find an annoying cranberry flavor in many Oregon pinot noir wines? By the way I really like the wines of Ken Wright.

This is very true, but understandable. Every wine writer is trying to find a way to effectively communicate their tasting experience to readers. Clearly well written tasting notes are the best method, but as we mentioned before not necessarily commercially viable.

Tell me more of this purge? it sounds really interesting! When you pass, I think, twenty posts, you can go to the eGullet Site Talk Board and read the "Anti-eGullet Weblog" thread for the scoop on this. The thing is at least one of the purgees has very strong opinions about wine (favoring Old World vines with terroir from certain regions of France only) and is not shy about sharing his opinions. There have been people here in the past who limited their tasting experience to famous wines. Their strategic reason for this was primarily they could afford it. People who do this do not understand wine. I remember one who argued and argued about Italian wine but then admitted he had no tasting experience with Italian wines other than Barolo. Obviously comments from people like this are not very useful.

But it's not necessarily good for business. Consumers will gravitate towards whomever offers the greater degree of differentiation and precision. That's the fact Jack. Points sell newsletters.

I very much agree with this system. It also takes into account that on given days a taster could give a wine a 90 and then a 92. Both are an "A". This communicates efficiently and accurately.

Vega Sicilia, the winery considered to be Spain's sole undisputed first-growth, is being inundated with requests for its new wine from Toro -- even though the region is little known internationally, the wine's name has yet to be confirmed and its release date is not until March 2004.

I like these guys Click Here

The Parker style would be defined as a very dense, extracted wine with very dark color and significant new oak flavors. Usually the alcohol levels are quite high and the tannins very soft. Often wines made in this way lose the taste of the area when they are made. It is generally referred to as the 'international style' because it often difficult to tell where they were made by just tasting them. Bordeaux changed course with the 1982 vintage which naturally produced a super rich style of wine. It is also this vintage that made Robert Parker. He championed these wines as the best vintage of the century and they were a huge commercial success in the United States. The producers made so much money they could not resist.

+ or - 5 is a huge spread as far as consumer reaction. 93 points is collectable 88 points is forgettable - sad as that may be.

This is becoming less true. There are two very diverse schools developing. One group like wines defined by acidity and terroir the other group loves power and oak and never the twain shall meet. Those who love power score more elegant and balanced wines (my prejudice is obvious) lower and the other group knocks off points right away for alcohol and obvious oak (that would be me). So who is right? (me)

When asked by Alan Bree about her comments in a Financial Times article on Bordeaux and Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson responded: © Allan Bree, Califusa, as published in Gang of Pour

I would guess it was about 4 years ago. I try to have the pinots every year.

Red wines that are over the hill can go grassy as the sweeter fruit flavors drop off leaving the more aggressive herbal tones. Just yesterday I had a 1983 Girard Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve that used to be great wine - rich and round with dark fruit flavors and not a hint of herbalness. Now it is a herbal/bell pepper thing which is undrinkable. My fault I should have drunk it up.

Yeah but Cheetos are objectively awesome. Everybody knows that. But if I score Cheetos and beer 89 points and Gordon scores them 92 points and FG scores them 95 points - what does that mean. It could mean exactly the same thing depending how each of us awards points. Some are more stingy and some more bighearted. By they way they almost always serve the Italian version of Cheetos at the bars in Lombardia when you go for an aperitivo. Unfortunately they are not the crunchy version (94 pts.) but the puffed version (85 pts.)

Are you trying to start a fight?

Scores can only be considered a reference point to the experience of an individual taster. If you do not understand the prejudices of that taster you cannot fully understand their score. While you may get a general idea of quality you can only understand the nuances that the taster wishes to communicate by knowing the preferences of that taster. The usual example is Robert Parker vs. The Wine Spectator. You can learn what Parker means by a 95 as he is consistent in his scoring while the same score in The Wine Spectator does not communicate as well because their scores are those of various individuals or ever changing committees. The point of scoring wines is to either communicate your impressions to others or to remind yourself of your impressions of the wine at a later date. Ultimately scores will always be much more effective in the latter case than they ever will be in the former.

I too have found the wines of Domaine Serene to be excellent. Grace and Ken Evenstad are very serious about their wines. I think they have succeeded with pinot noir but the chardonnay wines are just OK. Here is their site Domaine Serene

Jancis Robinson made these comments during an interview with The Restaurant Report. How do you rate the point systems? Is 20 points enough is 100 too much? Copyright © 1996-2001 by Restaurant Report. All rights reserved.

But why do you never see giant case stackings of Mouton Cadet like you do of Yellowtail? My feeling is that part of the reason is payola. The French have never felt they have to 'buy' their business. The Australians hit the market with the spirit of pure capitalism in their hearts.

Don't forget to join us on June 25th and 26th for an eGullet Q and A with Jancis Robinson. This is a unique opportunity to discuss all aspects of fine wines with one of the most knowledgeable and eloquent wine professionals in the world. Wine writer and former Decanter Woman of the Year Jancis Robinson has been made an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.

In that case they could be promising. They are a first rate outfit. Still, taste if you can. Hopefully they were in their warehouse and not it some hot distributors warehouse.

Looks like close-outs from old vintages that have been sitting in some warehouse for years. Beware of storage conditions and taste before you buy quantity. I agree with Matthew - the Pic St. Loup looks the most interesting.

Well, there's flour and often water (and not always eggs, for that matter)... Also: there's the taste factor. Adding salt to the cooking water gives you far more flexibility in adjusting salt content of the final dish. Both reasons are indeed the answer.